European Equities Decline

March 22, 2017Timothy Seabloom

European equity benchmarks slipped on Wednesday on concern that the implementation of US President Donald Trump’s economic-policy pledges, such as tax cuts and easing some regulations that have driven stock markets to record levels in recent months. will suffer delays.

Stock indices were also hit after reports emerged in the European afternoon hours of what police were treating as “a terrorist incident” near parliament in London. One woman has died and other people were being treated for injuries in the wake of the attack, several news outlets said, citing the British news agency Press Association. Footage of a car crashed into railings on Westminster Bridge was shown by the BBC. A policeman was stabbed, an assailant shot and several people injured in the incident, reports noted.

In economic data, the European Central Bank said that the current account of the euro area had a surplus of EUR24.1 billion ($26.06 billion) in January, which was lower than the EUR29.3 billion expected by economists in an investing.com survey. The surplus narrowed from EUR30.8 billion in December.